Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10 users are beginning to get the update.

If you're an Android user and you like minor, bug-fixing software updates, you don't have to be jealous of the iPhone 4S and iOS 6.1.1 anymore: Android 4.2.2 is here, and true to form Google is beginning to roll it out to its Nexus devices first.

reddit user WeeManFoo appears to have been one of the first to notice the update's availability on the (non-Verizon) Galaxy Nexus, and it also appears to be trickling out to some Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablet users. There's no word, on reddit or otherwise, about the Nexus 4 just yet, though it's almost certainly just a matter of time.

The first update since Android 4.2.1 in late November, Android 4.2.2 appears to contain only minor fixes befitting the small version bump. Primarily, it helps to resolve an issue where audio streamed over Bluetooth would "skip" or hiccup. WeeManFoo reports that Bluetooth streaming "works better [compared to 4.2.1] but it's not perfect" and that his Galaxy Nexus still disconnected from the Bluetooth speaker in his car when switching from Wi-Fi to a 3G data connection, indicating that there's still some work to be done. Whether the update brings other notable fixes or features to Android 4.2 will have to wait for an official changelog.

As usual, Google appears to be rolling Android 4.2.2 out in stages, so if your Nexus device hasn't received an update yet you should probably get it at some point in the next few days. As of this writing, our Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10 are still waiting for their updates.

Update: Now that Android Police has had more time to dig down into the update, they've unearthed a few features in addition to the aforementioned Bluetooth fixes.

Enlarge/ App downloads now supply a percentage and an estimate of time remaining.

For starters, both a completion percentage and an estimate of time remaining are supplied for app downloads—we all know how inaccurate these estimates can be, but on this front more information is usually better than less.

Google has also tweaked the new Quick Settings panel introduced in Android 4.2; long-pressing the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth icons in the panel will now turn those interfaces on and off, rather than taking you to their respective Settings panels. Finally, Google has introduced a notification sound for wireless charging and has changed the notification sound that indicates that your phone or tablet's battery is running low.

None of these are large tweaks, of course, but they all bring the refinements and spit-and-polish changes that we expect from a minor update. Android 4.2.2 continues to roll out to Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10 devices; Nexus 4 users will have to continue to wait for now.

74 Reader Comments

when ever I read about Android updates I cry a little as I think about how my phone will never get updated. now Its been so long, my phone is outdated and the company has dropped support. it was a good 2 years.

"If you're an Android user and you like minor, bug-fixing software updates, you don't have to be jealous of the iPhone 4S and iOS 6.1.1 anymore: Android 4.2.2 is here, and true to form Google is beginning to roll it out to its Nexus devices first."

Android users jealous? iOS is way behind Android lately, I think it's the other away around.

My N4 is a marvelous piece of device but the software (Android 4.2.1) was buggy and marred my experience. The infamous Bluetooth bug (A2DP streaming), battery problems (wakelock issue) and data drops (3G/4G reception) among other issues kept me from recommending this device to my family and friends.

With the Play store ordering/shipping almost normal now, if this update fixes all those bugs I would have no hesitation in recommending this phone.

when ever I read about Android updates I cry a little as I think about how my phone will never get updated. now Its been so long, my phone is outdated and the company has dropped support. it was a good 2 years.

Don't cry. Most Android phones have at least 3 years of updates in them by taking advantage of Cyanogen and similar projects. I just last week upgraded an HTC Desire to Android 4.1. The phone is now getting toward four years old and it works just perfectly. When the hackers finish porting 4.2 I'm sure that will work just fine too.

You will need to root your phone, but that's such a simple process that it shouldn't cause you any trouble.

You will need to root your phone, but that's such a simple process that it shouldn't cause you any trouble.

Your experience may have been different from mine, but I think it's misleading to call the rooting process "simple" in such a generic way. While some phones did have one-click-root scripts available, others most certainly did not. I tried rooting my HTC Legend before the OEM itself released its bootloader unlock app and failed due to some scritp error that I couldn't fix. Only after unlocking the bootloader with the official app did I manage to root and then install custom ROMs.

Speaking of custom ROMs, there are a few Android 4.x-based available for the Legend, but all of them have some quirks. Most importantly for me, there is no stock WiFi tethering. Due to this and some instability, as well as the fact that Link2SD started giving me problems in those ROMs, I am now using the Gingerbread (Android 2.3) CyanogenMod ROM for the Legend, which is the last one that will be supported officially by those devs. Still, it's better than stock Gingerbread with HTC's Sense UI

In short, while custom ROMs do help, and the dev community has done excellent work keeping old phones up to date, a big YMMV should apply.

Android users jealous? iOS is way behind Android lately, I think it's the other away around.

Not on the software update front. Unless you are on a Nexus, otherwise chances are your device is still in the substance agriculture stage(a.k.a. Gingerbread). And the "just get a Nexus" argument is flawed as it would practically mean that the Android option is reduced to one device per year - same as iPhone.

"If you're an Android user and you like minor, bug-fixing software updates, you don't have to be jealous of the iPhone 4S and iOS 6.1.1 anymore: Android 4.2.2 is here, and true to form Google is beginning to roll it out to its Nexus devices first."

Android users jealous? iOS is way behind Android lately, I think it's the other away around.

Yup. Totally sucks that my 2.5-year-old iPhone 4 (as well as the older 3GS) is still getting updates. It would be so much simpler if updates didn't happen at all. Like it does for Android owners.

"If you're an Android user and you like minor, bug-fixing software updates, you don't have to be jealous of the iPhone 4S and iOS 6.1.1 anymore: Android 4.2.2 is here, and true to form Google is beginning to roll it out to its Nexus devices first."

Android users jealous? iOS is way behind Android lately, I think it's the other away around.

Yup. Totally sucks that my 2.5-year-old iPhone 4 (as well as the older 3GS) is still getting updates. It would be so much simpler if updates didn't happen at all. Like it does for Android owners.

I like the troll attempt, but this is not a very valid comparison (especially since the post you quoted is referring to actual OS functionality, not update frequency or ease). On iPhone you may be getting the updates but you're not getting everything contained therein when updating the older devices, and Apple decides when your update joy abruptly ends. You can update most Android devices manually if you so choose. You actually have the freedom to do so. The carriers and phone manufacturers are the ones who decide whether you get "official" updates for your phone, but you're not forced to accept a lack of updates.

"If you're an Android user and you like minor, bug-fixing software updates, you don't have to be jealous of the iPhone 4S and iOS 6.1.1 anymore: Android 4.2.2 is here, and true to form Google is beginning to roll it out to its Nexus devices first."

Android users jealous? iOS is way behind Android lately, I think it's the other away around.

Yup. Totally sucks that my 2.5-year-old iPhone 4 (as well as the older 3GS) is still getting updates. It would be so much simpler if updates didn't happen at all. Like it does for Android owners.

Yes, but what features are included in these updates? Mostly nothing if you aren't on the latest iphone or ipad... On android phones there aren't many updates but everyone of them is full and complete, even if you have an older device.

"If you're an Android user and you like minor, bug-fixing software updates, you don't have to be jealous of the iPhone 4S and iOS 6.1.1 anymore: Android 4.2.2 is here, and true to form Google is beginning to roll it out to its Nexus devices first."

Android users jealous? iOS is way behind Android lately, I think it's the other away around.

Yup. Totally sucks that my 2.5-year-old iPhone 4 (as well as the older 3GS) is still getting updates. It would be so much simpler if updates didn't happen at all. Like it does for Android owners.

Yes, but what features are included in these updates? Mostly nothing if you aren't on the latest iphone or ipad... On android phones there aren't many updates but everyone of them is full and complete, even if you have an older device.

This is a much more important Bluetooth issue. Android's bluetooth stacks is many years old and doesn't even support the newest standards on Stock Android. Those of you without a Nexus device won't understand (because one of the things the vendors do is override the stock android bluetooth profile) but Nexus devices cannot stream metadata to audioplayers. So you're sitting in your car, listerning to Google Play, but the information isn't on the radio display. This is VERY old technology. How can google consider their devices as media devices without this very basic feature that even the iPods had when they first came out with bluetooth.

Anyways, I'm really a huge google fan, love my galaxy nexus, but this just annoys me. There are over 1000 stars on that issue linked above, and yet noone from google has even moved it from "New" to "Reviewed"

If you're asking whether it's a good thing to require some sort of step to root it in the first place, yes, it certainly is. I don't think we want the su binary shipping on phones. Imagine what your non-tech friends will do when they get an unexpected privilege escalation prompt from that obscure app they just downloaded. It should require a decision for users to open that can of worms, hopefully taking the time to educate themselves on what they're generally doing.

Now, if you're asking whether it should require a community of developers to find an exploit to get that code in the right place, well, certainly not. I personally like the Nexus model, where it's dead-easy to root the device after you've decided to root it, but you still have to decide to root it.

I'm glad this is fixed. Now I can go back to using my phone in my car properly. This should have been fixed sooner. I almost went back to 4.1 because of the issue because it made my phone hard to use in the car. Luckily I'll probably see it in my next Cyanogen Nightly and I can go back to my phone's car software and my music auto starting again when I turn on the car.

If you're asking whether it's a good thing to require some sort of step to root it in the first place, yes, it certainly is. I don't think we want the su binary shipping on phones. Imagine what your non-tech friends will do when they get an unexpected privilege escalation prompt from that obscure app they just downloaded. It should require a decision for users to open that can of worms, hopefully taking the time to educate themselves on what they're generally doing.

Now, if you're asking whether it should require a community of developers to find an exploit to get that code in the right place, well, certainly not. I personally like the Nexus model, where it's dead-easy to root the device after you've decided to root it, but you still have to decide to root it.

Thanks for the reply.

I was referring more to the last of your three options, and I share your opinion. In fact I agree on all of the three points you made.

As an iOS user I appreciate the many various benefits than Android has over my iPhone, but at the same time I appreciate that (as long as my hardware is compatible) I will get an OS update on the same day as every other user around the world, without needing to take matters into my own hands or put my trust in "hackers".

When that update contains big fixes and/or security patches then surely it's even more important to release to everyone at the same time, and I think most people will agree that this is an area where Android lags behind Apple - wether its the fault of Google, the carriers or the handset manufacturers - despite the other benefits Android has.

I'm glad this is fixed. Now I can go back to using my phone in my car properly. This should have been fixed sooner. I almost went back to 4.1 because of the issue because it made my phone hard to use in the car. Luckily I'll probably see it in my next Cyanogen Nightly and I can go back to my phone's car software and my music auto starting again when I turn on the car.

What has been the issue exactly? I'm just confused, because I've been using my Galaxy Nexus to stream music to my car over bluetooth constantly over the past year (I have an hour commute to and from work, so it gets lots of use). Maybe 4 or 5 times over the past year it's randomly not connected when I turned on the car, but a simple reboot fixed that.

Is it generally a connection problem, and if so, is it possible that it just does better connecting to some bluetooth devices than others? I've seen other people say the audio quality has been bad, but mine has always been excellent. My phone is completely stock, so I'm just confused how there could be some huge problem that I was completely unaware of, when I exercise this functionality all the time.

Android users jealous? iOS is way behind Android lately, I think it's the other away around.

Not on the software update front. Unless you are on a Nexus, otherwise chances are your device is still in the substance agriculture stage(a.k.a. Gingerbread). And the "just get a Nexus" argument is flawed as it would practically mean that the Android option is reduced to one device per year - same as iPhone.

You missed his point. His point is that the features of "Android" are better than the features of "iOS". Now by "iOS", of course we know that means the OS running on a majority of Apple mobile devices. And by "Android" we know that means the OS existing in Google's software repository that may or may not ever be on a significant number of devices in a reasonable time-frame. In other words, the PowerPoint slides about Android are better than iOS.

when ever I read about Android updates I cry a little as I think about how my phone will never get updated. now Its been so long, my phone is outdated and the company has dropped support. it was a good 2 years.

Sometimes that works out though. The Bluetooth wasn't a problem in GB and ICS, but when JB came around they decided to break it for some reason. I completely dropped my JB stock android system because it turned into such garbage. And for once HTC actually did a better job with it this time around, compared to GB and ICS where they completely destroyed the quality of BT.

I for one will be glad of this update. Both my Nexus 7 and my Nexus 4 have serious issues connecting to my car stereo. It's inconsistent at best and a real pain at times to get it sync'd up.

The Nexus 7 is (almost) funny - if I leave the wifi turned on, every time I drive within a 500 feet of a McDonald's the bluetooth starts stuttering horribly. This is despite the fact that I don't have the free AT&T Wifi SSID remembered. Then as soon as I pass the McD's, it stops stuttering. The same thing would happen as soon as I drove into my driveway at home of course, since it could see my wifi.

The car stereo worked awesome with my old Captivate [Gingerbread] - on BT Audio it would automatically start up Rhapsody for me as soon as it connected. My stereo supports Pandora as well and it would consistently start up Pandora. But on the Nexus 7 or my new Nexus 4, BT Audio doesn't automatically start any audio apps at all. And the Pandora setting only successfully interfaces with the Pandora app about 30% of the time.

I'm certainly hoping this new update fixes at least some of these issues.

Now the rest of my day will be spent hitting "Check Now" on both devices...

Google needs to stand on the wireless carriers with some force. I have major issues with how the carriers are handling google updates - the OEMs are bad, but the carriers are far worse.

1. Wait for an Android update to come out2. Wait for Samsung to load all their additional crap on it that I never use and can't uninstall3. Wait for AT&T to disable free functionality that competes with their far inferior paid products as well as add additional crap on it that I never use and can't uninstall

When I got the S2 AT&T and Samsung were promising an ICS update "soon"... took like 1.5 years after that to come out. Having to use the freaking Samsung Kies software to do it too was a nightmare in itself.

I'll be looking forward to this for my Nexus 7, I've been hit with various bluetooth freakouts since the last update and it's been a real drag. I shouldn't have to power down and restart the thing just to use my keyboard, and I sure didn't before.

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.